


Last Chance

by floatinginstardust



Series: Make Friends, Learn Names [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Developing Friendships, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-02-11 13:01:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12935844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floatinginstardust/pseuds/floatinginstardust
Summary: vivienne has had a rough go of it, let's be honest. without her parents to help her, she has no family.but maybe her luck might turn around. maybe, with the help of a new friend, she'll find a place to call home again.





	1. Rescue

" _Who are you? Where am I? Don't touch me! Help! Someone help!_ "

They were holding me, both arms stretched away from my sides, my legs flailing about wildly. But the grips of the raiders were strong, stronger than anything I'd ever dealt with before, and that sent a shot of fear straight through my heart. I couldn't hear most of their words, with the blood rushing in my ears, but I could at least get the idea I wouldn't be going to visit my parents today. The world was covered in thick black fabric, tied tightly around my eyes. There was nothing to see except the way we were walking, and there was no way to speak with a gag of cloth stuck in my mouth. It tasted of dusting spray and mud, so naturally I wanted to spit ti right onto the ground. 

Now, tears rolled down my cheeks as they tossed me into a pile of empty cardboard boxes that snapped under my weight. I sniffled there on my knees, words useless, only thoughts about how I wished they would just kill me, please just kill me, because I didn't want to become one of them, never, I'd rather just lay dead. 

No pistol cocked, no sneering ensued. just talking.

"We need to knock her out or something, this is- this getting to be too much." One panted. I felt my lips tremble with my jaw tight around the cloth as their bickering began.

"We can't get her all loopy, that's extra pounds to carry! You don't think it'll bring a little more attention-"

"And this isn't! Are you insane- god dammit, Jax-"

"-Shut up."

"No, you shut up!"

"I said, shut up! " A smacking sound of hand to cheek made me wince and flinch away from the scene. "I heard something."

Nothing but the wind scattering garbage across the street, and the whistle of wind between the buildings where we were frozen. It's chilling tendrils wrapped around my bare legs, making me shudder in my cowering position. The wold was dead- there was hardly a squeak or the cry of a Yao Guai.

Then, something hard smacked the back of my head, sending bright flashes of pain receptors bouncing about my head as I fell. Another contact with the concrete slowed down the world- I could hear muffled shouts and groans, the firing of a gun, but my brain wasn't connected to my limbs, so I could not bring myself to run. 

There was someone there. Someone clicking round after round into the laser-pumped bodies of my captors.

 _Someone had heard me_.

That was the only thing I could force myself to say before the world truly went as black as night. 

* * *

 

When I woke up, my head was no longer throbbing on smashed concrete, but tilted upwards with the support of several pillows. The world was dark now- it had been at least an hour since I'd been snatched up on the road. Soft murmurs of busy work and the tapping of a hammer on nails was an abrupt welcome to a place I'd never seen before.

From the window to my right was what must have been a sprawling neighborhood of green lawns and freshly painted houses. They were faded now, the color and life drained from them entirely. A small lamp flickered and hummed in the far corner of a mildly clean bedroom, even holding a large case of books just out of arm's reach. i could imagine wha the hall had looked like- blue wallpaper with flowers, a shining white bathroom to the right, and after that-

"Oh. You're awake."

I nearly toppled out of the bed at such a voice, but gripped it's flimsy edge to steady myself and face the speaker. Past the blurred silhouette he had in the chair opposite me, his posture was a stark contrast to my own- stiff and straight. The light beside him accentuated the bronze glow of his cheeks, and with it so close made it impossible to see his eyes behind a thick pair of sunglasses. His lips were pressed in a tense line, and his gloved hands were curled over the ends of the chair's wooden arms. 

"What's this place?" I croaked out, still peering at him with curiosity. 

He shifted. "This is a home in the Sanctuary, where Emi has asked me to watch you until you wake up- since I did bring you over here." 

"Are you a cyborg?"

To this, he sighed. "No, I'm a synth- a Courser, to be exact. Designation X6-88."

"But what's that?" When I cocked my head, he muttered something under his breath I didn't catch before explaining.

"Synth is used to name synthetic intelligence units designed by the Institute to look, function and behave like humans."

"So..." I trailed off. "You're a cyborg."

His lips twisted and he sniffed harshly. "What is your name, citizen?"

"Vivienne Van Halen." I paused. "Thank you for getting me out of that tight squeeze."

"You were in an ally." He muttered, voice tinged with confusion. "Is your head worse than we thought?"

“Correct- and what do you know about me to say that, X6-88?” I crossed my arms in mock offense. 

“Enough to tell that you are outspoken, and quite frankly impolite." He blinked.

I dropped my arms and began to pull myself off of the bed. "Man, I really need to piss..."

"I highly advise you not to walk, Vivienne." 

Yet, when had I ever listened to anyone? In one step, the blood filled my head so quickly that I fell forwards. A leather-clad arm reached out and caught me, muttering about how he'd told me so.The world was spinning violently, and I held my breath to dull the pain pulsing through my head. I sat back on the bed, examining fresh cuts on my arms. The room was quiet then, the only noise my panting or X6's occasional sniffle. Outside noise continued as if nothing new was happening. 

I knew enough about the Institute to know exactly how horribly they treated anything both above and below ground. Mom and Dad had told me many stories from those who has escaped. A pang of worry shot through my heart for the man beside me, and I looked up at him from the corner of my eye. Once he moved his focus back to me, I managed to speak. 

"Thank you, really. I mean it. God knows where I'd be right now." My voice shook.

Something twitched the side of his mouth- a little smile. "You're welcome, Vivienne Van Halen."

"I owe you big time."

"Do you?"

"Of course, you saved me from those freaks." I shivered again, but shook the memories of their cold fingers on my arms from my mind. I found myself speaking every thought in my head in that moment. "The least I can do is watch your back."

A smile broke out onto my face as a tiny sigh came from the back of his throat. "I'm not in need of any companions, thank you."

I pushed myself towards him. "Aw, come on! I'm great at getting places I'm not supposed to! I'm smart-"

"Doubtful-"

"Please?"

Another brief pause, but this time, the sigh was clearly audible. "I suppose... we can travel together for a few days..."

I leapt off the bed and nearly crashed into him. "I'll make it up to you, X, I promise."

"So long as you never call me X again, I'll let you come with me."

"Sounds like a deal to me. Hey, can I ask you something? How come when..."

As the world around me became softer with my usual chatter, I didn't know what was ahead. Without Mom or Dad, I'd felt alone. Lost. Scared. The world was big and I was small.

But maybe now that I'd been allowed to join this peculiar man in his travels, all that would change.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> now that vivienne has persuaded the company of her new hero, x6-88, she's wandering the sanctuary with him. unfortunately, he's not really enjoying it. but on this gloomy day, they'll learn more about each other, and that maybe they will work much better as a team than they thought.

"I hate storms." 

I spoke this beneath my bed, where the sheets were already mangled from the sleepless night I'd had before. A rumble of thunder shook the tin roof of the house, rain already beating against it's flimsy frame. I shuddered again, this time pulling my notebook closer to my chest. "All they do is make things worse."

They did. The beautiful regrowing grass turned to muddy slop, the calm waters began to increase speed and drown anyone who dared to walk in it, leaks came from tilted homes and any good mood seemed to evaporate in the sky's tears. Storms were so terrible that even the animals of the wastes, so accustomed to the barren life they lived, hid beneath the rocks they could find. With a grimace, I tugged the hood of my jacket off of my head as the next rumble of thunder shot across the Commonwealth. 

Personally, I was uncomfortable in small spaces, but my bed's hidden cave was the only place I found comforting during the storms when no one was around. It seemed as if everyone already had something else to do- except X6-88.

The man who saved my life.

So I wasn't surprised that the street that snaked across the bridge to imminent danger was abandoned once I began to walk down it. 

Luckily, I reached my destination before the next round of thunder that sent me pounding wildly on the door. "X6, it's me, Vi." 

He opened the door, eyes covered by his usual glasses. "Vivian, hello." Was his dry response. 

"I know it's raining, and I know it's also severely last minute-"

_BOOM._

I shivered, still holding my book under my jacket with my teeth pinching my lower lip to stop myself from bolting. "Please?"

His lips pressed together for the moment he spent thinking, head shifting up and down my soaking wet clothes and dripping hair before sighing and stepping aside to let me in. The door shut quietly behind me as I gazed around the man's house in wonder. It was rather tidy, alphabetical bookshelf, games and other fun novelties stacked on tables or windowsills- all in all it was cozier than my place would ever be.

A deep breath in through the nose, and the warmth seeped through my skin and halted my shivering. "Thank you so much, X6."

"Hm." Was the curt reply. "I'm assuming- you'd like to sit down?"

I giggled, walking through his foyer, gazing carefully at the new world I'd seemed to step into. "I don't want to get your place all wet- besides, I've been under a bed for two hours, so my legs do need to stretch." 

His head tilted and his eyebrows shot up at this. I watched him sit down slowly as he spoke. "Why would you ever do that?" 

"Oh," I sniffed before my hand reached up to wipe my nose and mouth quickly. "I hate thunder."

As if on cue, the mighty noise rang out through the Sanctuary again, but this time I noticed my new friend grimace at the crack of lightning the signaled the next wave. It was my turn to tilt me head, with my back resting carefully against the wall of the living room closest to his seat. His gloved hands clenched the arms of the furniture, then released. At once, his head snapped towards me, and from my position I could almost see his eyes through his sunglasses.

"I guess the feeling is mutual?" I offered, eyes on my shining orange shoes. The Courser said nothing, but turned to the book resting on his cracked coffee table. the iridescent light it gave off drew me closer, where I could see my warped reflection in it's glass, my face enlarged just where the scar by my hairline lay. 

I saw the flash of a fleeting memory- the cracked window by my old house, the dark makeup around my eyes my dad had tried and failed to put on. Both him and my mother, all round bright faces, were there then, smiling, looking at us through the glass. A perfect family making it by in a severely not so perfect world. Now, a shriek, a thud, and their grins seemed to dissolve into the air. A single drop of water dripped and fell into the cracks, further outlining them in the web they made around my face. I couldn't tell if it was my tears or the rain, and I didn't care. 

"Vivienne?" 

"Yes?" I looked up to find X6's glasses off and his book open. It was the first time I'd seen his eyes, and they were a striking blue richer than even the ocean in pictures of the world Pre-War. They swirled like waves against rocks, and I was captivated by the emotion pouring off of them. 

"I hate storms too." 

I smiled at that, and pressed my hand carefully on the glass. "My parents used to talk to me when they were really bad- of course, the day that, well, they left, there was a huge one."

"My condolences, Vivienne." 

"It's alright. I- I'm glad you told me you're scared too, because I was worried up until now that everyone here was going to be nothing like me."

He blinked, and slowly intertwined his fingers together like string. They seemed to be his only focus for a long moment of silence that was filled by the rain tapering off for the moment. "Most days, I’m lucky if people don’t attack me.”

I faced him with wide eyes of surprise. “I’m sorry, X6.”

”It’s alright.”

”No, it’s not.” I shook my head and sighed. “They shouldn’t attack you.”

”I’m a Courser, Vivienne.”

”You’re my friend, X6.” 

He grew stiff, like he always did when I called him my friend. I sat back my feet and dragged a hand through my stringy wet hair. “Sorry,” I muttered. “Really, you don’t deserve this.”

”I appreciate that notion.” Was all he said in response.

”Well, I owe you double for letting me track dirt and rain into your house, so thank you.”

The rain seemed gone, as did the storm, so I shook of the anxiety as best as I could. “Hey,” I scratched my neck while I spoke. “What book is that?”

”Oh,” He peeked around the faded cover. “I’m not sure, exactly. But there’s a man, in the woods, by himself. He has an illness in his heart- it beats too fast for his own good. He meets person after person who comes by. They call him Nobody, because that’s who he tells them he is. He saves a child from drowning in the river by his house, and they learn from each other. It’s actually better than I make it sound, trust me.”

”I think it still sounds good!” I reached out from my jacket and pulled out my notebook. “Sometimes I go back in this and read it. I was a really dumb kid.”

”But you’re still a child?”

”Well- younger kid.” I cracked open the spine and flipped to a random page. “See- ‘Today I went down by the beach, and I thought it would be nice to jump in, so I stuck my foot in the shallow part and I could feel the radiation pour over me. I ran out, tripped, and fell in the sand. Of course, it was easy to get up and take the Rad-Away, but I still feel as if I should’ve known the ocean would be so gross. I didn’t tell my parents when they came home. I think this is a story to keep to myself. But while I was there I saw two men in black leather jackets walking towards the boats crashed a ways off. I hope you can keep that secret.’ What kind of kid dunks their foot in water like that?”

”You, of course.” He said dryly. “Can I see your book?”

”Oh, sure!” 

I watched him turn each page carefully, looking briefly at the words before the next, for a few minutes. After a deep breath, he stopped short on a page towards the center. 

I could read the entry through his eyes. It was the recordings of all the edible plants that grew in the Commonwealth that I’d come across. “You found all of these?”

”Yeah. Once I left my house, I thought it was best to write down what I found- for survival. I thought that even if I died, someone could still use it, at least.”

”Hm...” He spoke, eyes drifting back to his book. He pointed to the paragraph on his page. “‘And then the man sat with a fire in his eyes that seemed to light up the wood he was using to bring warmth into the room. Across his walls were scribbled pages, and on his desk a book. It’s pages were nearly popping out of the cover. The child’s shaking hands wrapped around it and lifted it open. Notes. Notes of all kinds of things. And a message scribbled on the inside cover invited anyone looking to live to read whatever was inside. ‘You pulled me from a river. You’re not nobody, you’re definetely somebody.’ Was all they said as they scanned each page.’” 

“Ooh, parallels, I like it.” I snapped, much to the disdain of my friend. “If you look towards the beginning of the journal...”

We sat there, exchanging words for a time I couldn’t place, in a house shielded from the outside world, with books of magic ink. 

And I didn’t notice when the thunder roared back, when the lightning came crashing again, and the rain beat on the roof. I didn’t feel any fear.

Not a bad day.

**Author's Note:**

> please give constructive feedback- and thank you for reading. i have another work up for fallout new vegas, if you're interested.  
> have a nice day/night!


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